Nurses With Disabilities: Getting What You Need So You Can Give Your Best
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It was the nightmare every long-term care nurse manager dreads: the exit interview with a state survey team that has just inspected every inch of the building and every piece of nursing documentation... Read More

I can't help but wondering if the patient's suffered due to your issues? I appreciate your honesty but if patient's suffered due your lack of attention, I don't think you should be in this position.

That's a fair question, but the answer is I don't believe any patient has suffered because of my struggles. If I thought for even one minute that I'd neglected a patient/resident, I'd hang up my stethoscope and walk away in a New York minute. Whatever energies I have on a given day are directed toward them; it's my documentation that suffers, and I can recite the nursing-school creed all day and still forget a piece of paper, a signature, an undotted 'i' or uncrossed 't'.

I'm also not very good at handling the everyday BS. For one thing, I loathe the sales calls from the various vendors around town who don't bother to phone, but just waltz into my office so that I don't have a chance to tell them "This isn't a good time". I don't wish to be impolite, but I'm way too busy to schmooze. And, I get sick unto death of family members who seem to think THEIR loved one is the only resident in the building, and that I'm the one they need to harangue for 20 minutes about their Mom's missing sweater. I'll be honest, I don't give a flying fritz about her laundry......but if Mom is falling and not acting like herself, I'm on it.

I can't help but wondering if the patient's suffered due to your issues? I appreciate your honesty but if patient's suffered due your lack of attention, I don't think you should be in this position.

Kindly refrain from kicking sand in the sandbox. Whether or not a patient was impacted can be said of any of us, in any state of psychological distress both with and without corresponding diagnosis. In other words, we are all only human and we all have bad days. Some of us just have them in different capacity and perhaps a bit more often. Viva, I am sorry this happened to you and forced you to "show your hand" if you will. I cannot emphasize enough what an act of self advocacy and bravery it is for you to have spoken out even in the face of such potentially devastating circumstances. I am pleased to see that you are supported as I believe anyone who would fail to support such a dedicated individual with a beautiful heart to be a damned fool. I wish you nothing but the finest and wish to remind you that this is but a piece of the creative, powerful, marvelous you--it does not define you. Please continue to be gentle to yourself. Your article is a reminder to all nurses, not just those with special circumstances, to speak out for help and remember to advocate for themselves. As always, well done. ~~CP~~

Last edit by CheesePotato on Oct 6, '12
: Reason: sent from my smartphone using the feeble wireless signal. Have I mentioned how I love/hate my smartphone? Stubborn beast.

Before I read your post, I just assumed the disability being written about was physical. What an eye opener.
I've read your other posts and know how much your job means to you. I'm glad your employer recognized that when placed on a scale, your attributes far outweighed your deficits.
Yay!!
Does it feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders?
Not only do you not have to try and hide something, but you get support and understanding from colleagues.

Ah, Viva my friend......you are a brave soul. You are helping so many. I wish all facilities/bosses were as understand for you know that has not been my experience with physical limitations of an auto-immune disorder. ((HUGS))

PS: I absolutely, positively adore the quote in your signature. I often find myself saying, "How come I only hear from people when they need something from me?!" This quote puts a nice spin onto it. If it's OK by you, I plan to add it to my own email signature.

I can't help but wondering if the patient's suffered due to your issues? I appreciate your honesty but if patient's suffered due your lack of attention, I don't think you should be in this position.

Well G's Mom, it's good that you left yourself an out there, with "...if patient's suffered due your lack of attention..." because I really don't know of too many Nurse Managers that give all that much direct patient care, and by the time any pertinent issues get to her desk, chances of a patient suffering from lack of action would be fairly nil. That's the beauty of being insulated by charge nurses, and supervisors. You obviously know little about Nursing Administration and Management. When you get to this stage of your career, your role is more in handling the nurses and the administrative activity within the Facility, rather than the patients. You are still responsible for the patients, but not in a hands on capacity. Personally, I hated it and couldn't wait to get back to doing actual patient care.

Well G's Mom, it's good that you left yourself an out there, with "...if patient's suffered due your lack of attention..." because I really don't know of too many Nurse Managers that give all that much direct patient care, and by the time any pertinent issues get to her desk, chances of a patient suffering from lack of action would be fairly nil. That's the beauty of being insulated by charge nurses, and supervisors. You obviously know little about Nursing Administration and Management. When you get to this stage of your career, your role is more in handling the nurses and the administrative activity within the Facility, rather than the patients. You are still responsible for the patients, but not in a hands on capacity. Personally, I hated it and couldn't wait to get back to doing actual patient care.

I have been a nurse double the time Viva has been. I was taught that nursing documentation is part of patient care and the state concurs with me. Her managers and supervisors did not compensate for her short comings which is unfortunate.

Viva has not had her disability in check the last year, hopefully she can work with her employer to work out her situation. The article was a good heads up to all to keep their health ( mental and physical) in good control. She is lucky no patient was harmed, now she has move forward and fix all the deficiencies. Best of Luck Viva and thanks for article it is a reality check for all who have issues.

You provide some excellent suggestions for those with disabilities. Not everyone's disability is a physical one that can be seen. I commend you for being honest and not using your disability as a crutch. Kudos for having supportive supervisors and a good end result.

I can't help but wondering if the patient's suffered due to your issues? I appreciate your honesty but if patient's suffered due your lack of attention, I don't think you should be in this position.

I saw on Viva's Blog where she had taken responsibility for six of the deficiencies, but never where she noted exactly what those deficiencies were for. Do you have a special knowledge that provides you the information? Or are you simply operating on the special ability granted you by, Quote having twice the experience of Viva, Unquote. I don't see any other special abilities or interest, I don't see where you work, All I see is that you are married to a Non-Christian and you are put off when people assume you aren't a Christian as well. That and you have racial issues. I have 35 plus years in Nursing and I wasn't able to discern what the particular deficiencies were for. Sometimes people take the blame for things that really aren't their fault. Unless you are her immediate Supervisor, I don't really see how you are in a position to say whether her staff either were or were not in a position to compensate for any alleged shortcomings.

You really have no business calling anyone on their shortcomings. Viva brought a very well written blog to us and laid bare her feelings, and offered suggestions on how others who might suffer from a similar malady or be in a like situation might handle it, and you, as if you never farted in the bathtub, jumped in with both feet to tell her how wrong she had been and that she should just quit. Do you want to compare education and experience, maybe then we can decide who gets to tell who where to go and how far. I'll bet you I win. You don't get to decide whose disability is in check and whose isn't. You aren't a Practitioner, you aren't her Doctor, and you most certainly are not her. Those are the type of decisions she gets to make. Period. What you said in your original blog was rude and inappropriate. I couldn't let them slide. If I get thrown off the site for calling you on it, so be it. Once again, I don't play politically correct, I'm too old, and there's not enough time.

I didn't realize it when I posted this article, but this week, coincidentally, is Mental Illness Awareness Week. Amid all the pink ribbons, football cleats, and T-shirts commemorating Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this little-known but far more widespread public health concern is still being stuffed away, as it always does, in the closet of our national consciousness.

Please join with me in raising awareness about psychiatric disorders and de-stigmatizing the millions of Americans who suffer from these often-debilitating conditions.

Viva, thank you so much for your inspring and sincere post! I am an RN with more than just one disability. I was on unemployment for a full year before finding a great job with the flexible hours I desperately needed in order to be at my functional best along with a manager who is fully aware of my diagnosis'. I fully agree with every word about being honest about who you are so you can give your best... I searched high and low for a job and was consistently turned down for positions I was more than qualified for. I was told someone with "more" experience etc. got the job. I was SO distraught and discouraged. I was not going to settle for just any job to only be set up for failure. God works in mysterious ways. 2 weeks before unemplyment ran out. This wonderful job I now have came along just in the nick of time. I think the hardest part of it all was being honest with myself about my limitations and really finding things I AM good at and being grateful for them. My diasability is not something I've had all my life. Coming to terms with my new self and finding a good fit for me has been a very humbling journey. Again Viva, thank you for your post